Pokémon: the Adventures of Gattsu
by Gutsfearless
Summary: A young boy from Pallet Town who discovers a big interest in Pokémon just days before his tenth birthday and decides, against his father's will, that he wants to become a trainer. What will become of his journey through the Kanto region? Find out in Pokémon: the Adventures of Gattsu.
1. Chapter 1: Enter Gattsu

My name is Stephen, otherwise known as "Guts" on the internet and elsewhere. Lately, my mind has been going wild with an idea for a fan-fiction Pokémon story and I have decided to upload it to this very site. ^~^

Anyways, I've loved writing for quite some time but I've never written a fan-fiction story. However, this story is _very _in-depth and has quite a deep background which will unfold during the Protagonist, Gattsu's, adventure.

Also; I will be playing Pokémon Fire Red version along with this story so there will be quite a few similarities between the story and events that happen within said game.

Anyways, I just wanted to give this sort of "introduction" to my story so you understand that this isn't going to be a boring story about some trainer blasting his way through the various regions, collecting badges and defeating the Elite Four over and over. While it _will _be set in the same world as the Pokémon games, anime, and manga, it will be a very detailed and in-depth story.  
I hope you all enjoy, and thanks for reading.

-Guts

Pokémon  
the Adventures of Gattsu

Chapter 1  
Enter Gattsu

Gattsu woke up in the mid-afternoon to knocking on his door. At first he would just lie there, rubbing his eyes and yawning, wanting to just fall back into his nap, but the persistent knocker wouldn't let up. He sat up and sighed, brushing his long, dark brown bangs out of his deep blue eyes. His hair was a mess, as usual, and jutted out in many directions. It was just his style. Gattsu was only nine but he looked to be about twelve. He was taller than your average nine year old. Thinner as well.

He finally managed to swing his feet over the side of his bed and stand when he noticed the knocking ceased. He grunted, thinking _seriously? Just when I get up?_ He considered laying down once more and getting another half hour or so, but he was already up, he might as well do something. He heard chatting coming from downstairs so he made his way to the stair case from his bedroom. As soon as he left the small, child-sized room, he could make out the conversation being had between his father and, what sounded like, Samuel Oak, the local Professor.  
"I've told you before, Oak, ten years old is _too young,_" he heard his father say.

"But, Steve, surely he's got talent. _You_ would've had talent, had you taken an interest. Do you know who your father was? He was _almost _a **master!**" replied Professor Oak.

"Look, I don't mind if Gattsu wants to pick... _it_ up, but **not right now.**"  
At this, he heard a sigh. He assumed it was Professor Oak's. Next came a few footsteps, what seemed to be Oak giving up and walking toward the door, then they stopped.  
"You know he would love it, Steve. I wish you'd just let me talk to him about it. And I've made the-"  
"I don't care about your encyclopedia, Oak, and neither did my father. He only had **six** his entire life. Now please, I hate to be rude to you, but just leave it be!"

Gattsu knew exactly what they were arguing about, despite the fact that his father tried to keep it from him. How could he _not _know about Pokémon? Especially having grown up in Pallet Town.

Truthfully, Gattsu didn't mind that his father didn't want him to become a trainer. That's what somone who collects, battles, and befriends Pokémon is called. The idea of traveling throughout his entire region looking for new Pokémon seemed interesting enough, but the fact that he couldn't do it didn't hurt his feelings any.

Gattsu assumed that by this time, Oak was surely gone. He made his way downstairs to find his father in the kitchen.

"Hey dad," Gattsu greeted.

"Hey, Gatts. How're you, buddy?"

"Doin' okay, just a bit bored. I think I'm gonna go play with Sam, I'll be back in a little bit."

"Okay, just be careful. And do _not _step foot outside of Pallet, you know what's lurking out there."

"I know, dad, I'll be careful. Love ya'."

And with that, Gattsu had left his house.

Pallet Town, especially on a Fall afternoon, was such a nice and peacful place. As soon as Gattsu stepped foot outside, he felt the comfort of a cool breeze, forcing his hair to flow in the direction of the air. He closed his eyes for a moment and smiled, it was going to be a good day. He opened them and looked around the small town, taking in it's innocent scenery. Small children were running around near the sea to the South of the town, cute Pokémon were enjoying themselves in the small woods that surrounded to the East and West, and when he looked to the North he saw Sam just gazing out into the route that lead into Viridian City.

Gattsu approached Sam and said "Hey, what're you looking at?"

"Oh, nothing. Just wishing I would turn ten sooner."

Unlike Gattsu's father, Sam's parents were going to allow him to become an official Pokémon trainer, but his birthday wasn't until ten days from now. Gattsu's happened to be tomorrow.

"I'm sorry. But it's not so far away, you'll be ten before you know it!" Gattsu replied with a smile.

Sam nodded, "I know, but I'm just so anxious. I wish you were coming with me, Gatts. I'm gonna be pretty lonely at first."  
"No you won't, you'll have your Pokémon with you, Sam. Did you forget that?"

"Oh yeah, I guess I did," Sam replied. The two laughed briefly before Sam stared back out into the route. "It's still gonna be lame to not have you with me. We'd make an awesome team, I bet."  
"Well, maybe I will some day, who knows," Gattsu responded, offering a smirk for encouragment. "But one thing is certain, I'd definitely be better than you!"

"No way," Sam replied, "I would become a champion _years_ before you could even _think _about it!"

They laughed again for a moment and then they both felt hands rest on their shoulders simultaneously. They both jumped due to being startled and turned around only to be greeted by Professor Oak's grinning face.  
"Hi, boys," he greeted.

"Oh, hi Professor," Gattsu responded with an embarassed smile.

"Not thinking about going out there, are you? Dangerous area route one is without a Pokémon. Speaking of Pokémon, Gattsu, you're turning ten tomorrow. Have you thought about becoming an official trainer?"

"Of course I've _thought _about it. Dad won't let me." Gattsu replied.

"Well, I'll tell you what, come to my lab in half an hour and I'll teach you the basics of training a Pokémon. I bet if you show more interest, your father would definitely agree to letting you become a trainer," Oak stated. "Sam, you come too. Your birthday isn't far from now and there's no harm in getting in a bit of training before hand, right?" and, with that, he turned and walked off toward his lab, which was located in the South part of town, close to the Sea route.

Gattsu looked to Sam, who had the most excited look on his face.

"I can't believe it!" he shouted, jumping up and down excitedly, "Gatts, this is the first step to us becoming _masters_! Do you know what that means?"

"Uh, well, I was thinking about not going. Dad always tells me to stay away from Professor Oak and-"  
"Are you kidding? No way, you're coming with me! We're going now!"

Sam grabbed Gattsu's wrist and yanked him into a run, trailing behind clumsily as they got to the lab.

Gattsu had never been to his lab but it was so amazing. It was the largest building in all of Pallet, and it had a very large field beside it where various Pokémon lived. They were all in Oak's possession, he studied them and even trained some of them in his youth. Just seeing all of the Pokémon on his property instantly made Gattsu excited, almost like he had been waiting for this moment his whole life. It was weird for him to feel that way because his father had never been into Pokémon and, from what he remembered, his grandfather didn't have any interest either. Then Gattsu recalled something from earlier, Oak had said that his grandfather was almost a master during his conversation with Gattsu's father.

_That can't be true, Grandpa never showed any interest in Pokémon. Then again, I only knew him until I was about six. _Gattsu thought. His thoughts were interrupted by Sam saying "Come on, let's go!" Gattsu nodded and the two slowly approached the door.

Gattsu's heart felt like it was going to leap up his throat, he could hardly stand it. They were just inches from the door when it popped open and Oak looked out at them.

"I see you just couldn't wait, eh boys? Come on in, I've got a big surprise for both of you!" Oak said with a friendly smile.

The two nodded and walked in, very shy and curious, taking in everything the lab had to offer.

There was large machinery everywhere they looked. Weird bleeps and whistles and various other noises sounded in the distance. Pokémon and lab assistants seemed to be doing very important work as they scrambled about or mixed what looked like chemicals. It was all so much to take in, but they followed Oak right into a small office in the northern section of the lab.

"Here we are, boys, my office," he led them in and closed the door only to find that there was another boy in the lab with them. Sam and Gattsu looked at him awkwardly, not sure who he was. He seemed to be about their age, however.  
"Oh, forgive me. Sam, Gatts, this is my grandson, Green. Green, meet Sam and Gatts."

Green turned around and barely nodded in their direction, offering them a dull glance with piercing eyes. It was actually quite intimidating to both of them.

"Green turned ten about a week ago but he's just now returned to Pallet to get his license," Oak stated. "Anyways, come here you three, I've got something to show you."  
The three walked up to a round table in the center of Oak's office. The table had three spherical objects on it that looked as if they would fit perfectly in the palm of your hand. They had a transparent red top half and a solid white bottom half that was seperated by a thin, black line that wrapped around the object. The last noteable feature of the devices was the button on the front of them.

As they got closer to the table, the three realized there were small creatures, Pokémon, inside of them.

"Green, you already know this, but these two don't. Sam, Gatts, these are called Pokéballs. They're a device used to capture and hold your Pokémon. Each of you, pick one up."

Green gave a scoff and said "Gramps, I already know all of this."  
"Quiet, Green, you'll do as I say if you want to become a trainer."

Green nodded and did as he was told. He glanced over the three objects and must've decided on one because he reached out for the one furthest from him. It was actually the one that was in front of Gattsu, who was on the far right of the group.

Gattsu raised his eyebrow as if to say _what if I wanted that one_? But he decided not to worry about it. Instead, he grabbed the one in front of Sam, leaving Sam to grab the one in front of Green.

Holding the Pokéball felt so natural to Gattsu. It was like he had already felt this sensation before, but he'd never even heard of a Pokéball prior to today.

"Okay, now follow me you three," Oak said, leading them through another door in his office.

This door lead to what looked like a giant in-door battlefield. It was a big, empty room with a rectangular "field" painted across the floor in white. The field was split into halves by another white line and there was a large circle that seemed to resemble a Pokéball painted in the center of the field.

"Okay, let's see. Sam, Gatts, you two stand at opposite ends of the field," Oak instructed, "when I count to three, you're going to throw your Pokéball out into the center. The force of the impact will open the ball and your Pokémon will emerge. But be alert because the ball will come right back to you."

Gattsu was so impressed by the technology he had in his hand that he could hardly believe it was real. Sam felt similar.

Oak and Green stood to the side of the field and observed as Gatts and Sam looked each other in the eyes and nodded, as if communicating each other's feelings telepathically. After the nod, they both tossed their Pokéballs out onto the field, catching them as they returned.

The Pokémon that stood in Gattsu's half of the field was small, light-blue with a burnt-orange colored shell on his back. He also had a bushy tail that was the same color as his skin. He slightly resembled a turtle. It looked around the room and back toward Gattsu. Gattsu felt a tingling sensation in his stomach as the creature let out a cute cry and a smile, then turned toward Sam's Pokémon.

Sam's Pokémon looked quite a bit different than Gattsu's. It was shorter, stood on all four legs, it's body was the shape of a frog, it had a blueish-green skin color with green colored shaped on placed randomly on it's body. It's ears were small points and on it's back was a light green bulb. It's cry was a bit more ferocious than Gattsu's Pokémon, but not very powerful all together.

"Aah, so Gatts, you chose Squirtle. He's a rare water type Pokémon with quite a naughty nature. Sam, yours is Bulbasaur. A grass type, very stubborn," Oak stated with a serious look on his face. "Let's see what they've got, huh? Sam, command yours to tackle Squirtle."

Sam blinked as if he was a bit confused and said "Uh, tackle?" in a very shy tone. Bulbasaur yawned and layed down. "Hey, it looks like he's going to sleep!"  
"You need to be a bit more aggressive, Sam, he'll never respect you if you sound afraid of him," Green spoke out. This was the most Sam and Gatts heard Green say.

"Uh, okay then. Bulbasaur, tackle Squirtle!"

Bulbasaur let out a yawn and stood back on his feet, he glared at Squirtle and charged at him suddenly. Squirtle's eyes widened and he jumped to the side, dodging the attack. Bulbasaur skidded to a halt and turned around.

Gattsu didn't need to be instructed, he suddenly called out "Squirtle, return that attack to Bulbasaur!"

Squirtle grinned and lowered his head, charging Bulbasaur and slamming into him with a loud thud!

Bulbasaur slid back a bit and Sam said "Oh no! Bulbasaur, tackle him now while he's close to you!"

Bulbasaur obeyed, leaping at Squirtle and slamming his head into Squirtle's body, sending him onto his back.

"Squirtle, get on your feet, he's coming in for another attack!" called out Gattsu as Squirtle struggled to get off of his shell.

It was too late, by the time Squirtle got to his feet, Bulbasaur already tackled him back down. Squirtle looked to be in a bit of pain, but he stood up again with a determined expression.  
"Squirtle, he's coming in for another attack, dodge and use his momentum against him!" Gattsu called out.

Squirtle waited until just before Bulbasaur reached him to dodge out of the way and charge at him from behind, slamming into him hard and sending him down. Squirtle was breathing heavily as Bulbasaur lay collapsed on the floor, looking as if he wanted to get up but just couldn't.

"Looks like Squirtle took the match. Good job, Gattsu. You did good as well, Sam. Now, throw your Pokéballs back at them to miniaturize them and contain them inside the device once more. Like last time, it'll return right back to your hand so be prepared."

Sam looked very upset as he did as Oak instructed, tossing the ball at the exausted Bulbasaur. The ball tapped Bulbasaur's bulb and popped open. Bulbasaur gravitated to the interior of the ball as he shrank to a pocket size.

Gattsu did the same with Squirtle, offering a "Good match," to Sam, who just nodded in return. He was taking the defeat pretty hard.

"Let's get them healed up. Luckily, Pokémon can heal quite quick from minor injuries by being placed on these specially designed recuperation machines," Oak said, taking the Pokéballs from the boys and placing them on a device that was in the corner of the large room. The device glowed and pulsated as it seemed to heal the Pokémon.

Just as Oak was about to speak, the door burst open and in walked Steve, Gattsu's dad. "Oak, what did I say!?" he burst out angrily. He stormed toward Gatts and gripped his arm, "my son will **not **be a Pokémon trainer at the age of ten. Don't try to trick him into thinking he can. I am his father," and with that, he stormed out of the room and out of the lab all together.

Oak stood there, feeling quite bad for what he had done. It was true that he shouldn't have tried to persuade Gattsu, but he knew what he was capable of and he just couldn't resist. Oak had a feeling that he would still be seeing Gattsu tomorrow, but for now he had to continue training Green and Sam.

Meanwhile, back at Gattsu's house, Steve scolded him for quite some time as tears streamed down his face. He had felt like a big part of him had been ripped away now that he had met Squirtle and couldn't take him home. He didn't know if Oak was going to give him Squirtle anyway, but just that brief battle was enough to get Gattsu attached.

"...now go to your room! Tomorrow is your birthday and I don't want to still be angry by then," Steve finally finished.

Gattsu began to walk toward the stairs when a sudden wave of encouragment flooded his body. He turned and looked at his dad. "I am going to become a trainer tomorrow, dad," he said suddenly.

Steve looked at him surprised. This was the first time Gatts directly defied his word. He opened his mouth to speak but Gattsu interrupted.

"You can't stop me. I was _born_ for this. It's in our blood! Grandpa was almost a master, I heard Oak say it earlier. And I did amazingly my first time battling. I will be a trainer tomorrow no matter what, I've made up my mind."

Steve starred at Gattsu angrily and then the anger washed away. Without saying another word, Steve went to his room and layed down in his bed, still very frustrated. Gattsu went upstairs and into his bedroom, lying down on his bed letting the rest of the day go by as he drift into sleep.

A rapping was heard at his window and he awoke with a start. He looked around and the tapping upon his window continued. He stood up quickly and grabbed a baseball bat from the corner of his bedroom before approaching the window. He slid the curtains away from the window to see Sam holding onto a tree branch that just barely reached Gattsu's window.

"Gatts, let me in!" Sam said, looking as if he could lose balance on the thin branch at any moment.

Gattsu opened his window and pulled Sam into his bedroom, sliding the window and telling Sam to be really quiet. It was about 12:30 AM and Gattsu didn't want his father waking up.

"What is it, Sam?" Gattsu asked, wondering why Sam would be out so late.

"Oh, you know, I just brought Squirtle to you, that's all," Sam said sarcastically, dropping a Pokéball onto Gattsu's bed. Inside the transparent red top was a miniature Squirtle grinning up at him.

Gattsu felt his heart drop and hugged Sam bigger than he'd ever hugged anyone. "Thanks, Sam!" he said out loud, probably louder than he should've.  
Sam smiled and almost lost his footing as he said "no problem, but you really should thank Professor Oak, he said we could have our Pokémon! You should've seen the one Green got! But you'll probably see it later on so I won't ruin the surprise for you."

Gattsu was so happy that he had his Squirtle that he just had to release it. He dropped the ball onto the floor gently, Squirtle emerging and smiling at him, letting out his cute cry.

"Squirtle, I'm so happy you're here!" Gattsu said sitting on the floor so he could see Squirtle better.

Squirtle gave a cute, excited look and looked around Gattsu's room curiously. He'd never really been outside of Oak's lab or his yard so this was all pretty new. He looked back to Gattsu and let out a cry once more. Gattsu smirked and hugged Squirtle, who hugged back.

Although they'd only known each other very briefly, they already had a strong attachment to one another. Gattsu felt like it was the start of a great friendship and a powerful partnership. He looked back up to Sam and said "why don't we meet up tomorrow afternoon and let our Pokémon play together? We can even train a bit if you'd like."

Sam nodded, "I'd like that. I better get out of here, I'm gonna let my Bulbasaur explore my bedroom tonight so he gets comfortable," he held up his Pokéball, showing Bulbasaur to Gattsu, "See ya'!" and with that, he was back out the window and down the tree, running to his house.

Gattsu had a hard time sleeping due to how anxious he was for tomorrow, but eventually he would doze off to sleep, Squirtle beside him resting his head on Gattsu's stomach.

The next morning, Gattsu woke up to Squirtle tugging at his t-shirt anxiously. As soon as Gattsu's eyes opened, Squirtle jumped around excitedly, letting out a joyful cry and hopping off of his bed, pointing at the window.

"Not just yet, Squirtle, I still have to talk to my dad. You'd better get back in your Pokéball for now," Gattsu said, gently tossing the ball at Squirtle, who entered into the device just before it sprung back into Gattsu's hand.

Gattsu's bravery from the night before had all but vanished as he slowly marched downstairs. His dad was in the kitchen making breakfast, which was quite rare. As soon as he saw Gattsu enter the kitchen he said "Happy birthday, my new Pokémon trainer!" and put a plate in front of him on the table that had pancakes decorated to look like Pokéballs. There was also bacon and eggs on the plate.

Gattsu about sprang out of his chair with excitment. He looked up at Steve and said "D-dad, you mean..."

"Yep, I thought about it for quite sometime... It's what Grandpa Gatts would've wanted, son. I am sorry I was so hard on you, and I apologized to Professor Oak already as well. I am going to be very worried about you but as long as you contact me frequently I will let you adventure around Kanto. Happy birthday, Gattsu." Steve smiled and sat down next to his son. The two ate and Steve gave him his birthday presents. Money, clothes, a hand-held gaming device for his trip with several games, and a cellular device.

"Dad, thank you so much! I will call home daily and I'll be very careful. Thank you!" he hugged his father around the neck and the two spent a little bit more time together before his dad said "You'd better get to Professor Oak's lab, I heard he has some presents for you too."

Gattsu smiled and hugged his dad one last time before leaving the house. He met up with Sam right on time and the two released their Pokémon to walk with them.

"You're so lucky, Gatts. My birthday is in nine days and I'll catch up to you then, I promise!" Sam said as they strolled toward Oak's lab.

They reached the lab and walked in, heading to Oak's office.  
"Aah, I figured I'd be seeing you early, Gatts. Your father spoke to me and gave me the okay to present you with this," he handed Gattsu a plastic rectangular card. It already had a picture of Gattsu on it, his name, birthdate, and several more information.

"How do you have this picture of me?" Gattsu asked.

"My lab is equipped with several cameras for security purposes," Oak replied, "I just used a picture from them. Anyways, that's not all I have, here are these as well," Oak then handed him five Pokéballs, which were empty. "Use those to capture new Pokémon. Official trainers can only have teams of six so choose wisely. You can capture more than six but you'll have to transfer the ones you're not using to me or Bill."

"Bill?" Gattsu asked, not familiar with who that was.

"Oh, right, you don't know of Bill. Well, no matter, I'm sure you'll meet him soon enough," Oak responded. "And, last but certainly not least, your Pokédex." This time, Oak handed him what looked like a wide, red cell phone. The front of which popped open on a hinge to display a screen and several buttons.

"Hello, Gattsu," the Pokédex said in a monotonous computerized voice.

"Whoa," Sam said looking at the device.  
"This device is used to record data about Pokémon as you capture them. As you know, my goal is to research and discover as much as I can about Pokémon so I've built this sort of encyclopedia with one task which I ask of you, discover as much as you can about as many Pokémon as you can. I've asked the same of Green so I'm hoping that between the two of you, I'll learn about all the Pokémon in Kanto."

Sam felt very envious now. Was he not going to give him a Pokédex when he turned ten? He kind of looked to the floor in sadness.

"All right, Professor. Thank you so much! I will try my hardest to catch as many Pokémon as I can! I'll be leaving this afternoon after I say goodbye to dad and Sam."

"Very well. Viridian City is just North of here down route one, just follow the path and don't stray too far and you should find it just fine. You might even catch up with Green. Now, I've got a lot to do today so I'll be contacting you frequently for updates on the Pokédex. Have fun, boys."

Oak smiled and waved good bye as the two exited his office and then the lab.

"Man, I am so jealous!" Sam said as Gattsu looked at his new Pokédex.

"I'm sure you'll get one too, Sam," Gattsu said.  
"You heard Oak, he's hoping that you and Green will collect all the data. He never said anything about me."  
"Oh, you're just thinking too much, don't worry."

The two let their Pokémon play a bit that day. Gattsu let Squirtle swim in the shallow part of the sea for a little while and they trained a bit as well. Gattsu won three matches and Sam managed to win one when he discovered that he could use an attack with vines that came out of Bulbasaur's bulb. The attack seemed to injur Squirtle quite a bit. Gattsu also found that Squirtle had a water attack too but it didn't seem to do anything to Bulbasaur.

After a couple of hours, Gattsu returned home to rest and say goodbye to his dad, then it was time to start his adventure to Viridian City.

Gattsu stepped out of Pallet Town for the very first time. The route that led to Viridian was very grassy. Often times there'd be rustling in the grass but Gattsu decided for now he'd just enjoy his time strolling along with Squirtle, who was out of his Pokéball.

Bird type Pokémon flew high above route one. Gattsu had seen them before but there seemed to be many more in this area than in Pallet.

Gattsu contemplated on battling or capturing one but his thoughts were lost when he heard someone say his name from behind him. He turned to face whoever it was that had spoken his name only to find that it was Green wielding his Pokéball.  
Green had a cold look in his eyes as he said "We're both trainers now, which means we're going to battle."

Gattsu swallowed hard, unsure of how this would turn out. He knew nothing about Green's Pokémon and he definitely knew that Green was more advanced than he was. But he couldn't turn this down, he had to prove himself.

"Right, you're on, Green," Gattsu replied as Squirtle stepped out in front of him ready for battle.

* * *

Current teams at the end of chapter 1:

Gattsu:  
Squirtle Lv. 7

Sam:  
Bulbasaur Lv. 9

Green:  
?


	2. Chapter 2: The Adventure Begins

Pokémon  
the Adventures of Gattsu

Chapter 2  
The Adventure Begins

Gattsu looked more brave than he felt as he faced Green, ready to battle. Green had a very intimidating aura to him that seemed to chill everyone to the bone, but there was no turning back. This would be Gattsu's first official battle as an actual trainer.

Without a word, Green tossed his Pokéball into the tall grass and with a pop, his Pokémon emerged. It was a bit taller than Squirtle and it's skin was orange with a creamy-beige colored under-belly. It's body shape was similar to Squirtle's but without the shell and it was thinner. It also had a tail with a bright flame on the end that burned the grass surrounding, causing smoke to rise up in the air adding to the already terrifying aura of Green and his Charmander.

Gattsu hesitated at first and Green called out the first command. "Charmander, attack the Squirtle with scratch!"

With that, Charmander charged toward Gattsu's Pokémon, slamming right into him and bringing him to the ground with a loud thud, slashing at his stomach with it's sharp nails.

"S-Squirtle, push him off and put some distance between you two," Gattsu called out.

Squirtle shoved Charmander off of him and backed up, pushing grass down as he went. Charmander came charging once more and Gattsu began to think about what to do next.

"Quick, counter his attack with your tackle," Gattsu commanded.

Squirtle and Charmander collided head first with one another, knocking both of them to the ground. Squirtle seemed to have a harder time getting to his feet than Charmander, but he managed and the fight continued.

"Tch, I know it's not going to be too effective but... Charmander, ember!" Green commanded.

Charmander spun around so fast that a small but violent flame launched off from the one on his tail, rocketing toward Squirtle.

"Dodge it, Squirtle!"

Squirtle jumped to the side but it wasn't quick enough, the flame had hit Squirtle's arm, causing a nasty burn. Squirtle cried out and fell to the ground in pain.

"Oh no! Squirtle!" Gattsu called out concerned, running toward his injured companion.

"The battles not quite finished, Gattsu. Charmander, finish him off with one final scratch!"

Gattsu saw Charmander begin to charge and he knew that he had to think fast. He was letting his Squirtle get injured and he couldn't allow this final attack to land. He then recalled the water-based attack that Squirtle had learned during training with Sam. Charmander seemed to be primarily a fire-type Pokémon so this was Gattsu's last shot.

"Squirtle, quick, hit him with bubble!"

Squirtle shed the pain for a moment to stand back up and face the charging Charmander. He closed his mouth and looked as if he was regurgitating something from his stomach. When he opened his mouth, large sparkling bubbles blasted out and darted toward the speeding Charmander.

"Oh no, dodge 'em, Charmander!" called Green, but it was too late.

Charmander cried out loudly as the bubbles collided with him, popping violently as they touched his body and causing him to collapse to the ground.

"Dammit, Charmander, you weren't strong enough," Green said as he tossed the Pokéball out, causing Charmander to return to his portable home.

Gattsu ran up to Squirtle and said "Are you all right? Let me see your arm, buddy."  
Squirtle had a sad look on his face as he held out his arm for Gattsu to examine.

"Ouch, that's a nasty burn. Don't worry, it'll heal. I'm sure Viridian has one of those Pokémon centers Professor Oak told me about."

At this point, Green approached Gattsu and held out his hand, standing above the kneeled Gattsu.

"That was a fun battle. My Charmander was too weak to defeat Squirtle, but we'll battle again sometime."  
Gattsu took Green's hand and nodded. "Agreed, we'll have to battle once more when our Pokémon are healthy. Speaking of healthy, does Viridian City have a Pokémon Center?" Gattsu asked, assuming Green would know.

"It does, but you don't have to wait until then to heal Squirtle." Green replied as he took his pack off of his back and reached into the front pouch. He pulled out a small berry and kneeled down in front of Squirtle. "Here, eat this," he said as he handed the berry to Squirtle.

Squirtle took the berry, which looked like a blue strawberry, and popped it in his mouth, swallowing it after chewing on it for a moment.

"That's called a Rawst Berry. It helps heal burns quickly. Squirtle should be fine within about twenty minutes," Green informed Gattsu.

"T-thanks, Green," Gattsu replied, "I'm sure Squirtle appreciates it too. Anyway, I have to head to Viridian so-"

"I'm heading there as well. There's a Gym there and that's where I'll be getting my first badge," Green interrupted.

"Gym?" Gattsu asked, not sure what kind of gym Green was referring to. He had also never heard of "badges" either.

"Yeah, Gym. It's quite a bit to explain and I don't have time now. Tell ya' what, when you get to Viridian, ask where the Gym is located. I'm sure the leader of the Gym will explain better than I can anyway."

"All right, see ya' 'round, Green."  
And with that, Green was gone.

It had been so hard to contain his excitement that as soon as Green was out of eye-shot, Gattsu jumped up and down happily.

"Squirtle, we beat Green! He has more experience than us and we beat him! You and I," he kneeled down, "we're going to go far, buddy. And I've been thinking, you're my companion so you need a name. How about Bubbles?"

Squirtle smiled at this.

"Then it's settled, you're name is Bubbles. You and I are going to be the best team Kanto's ever seen."

Squirtle let out an excited cry and Gattsu smiled, rubbing Squirtle's head happily before standing up and looking North down route one.

"Well, guess we'd better get going, huh?"

Squirtle nodded and with that, the two began their journey toward Viridian once again.

Several flocks of bird-type Pokémon had flown over head as Gattsu trecked Northward through the tall grass of route one. He had decided that this was going to be the first Pokémon he'd capture. He didn't know if it'd become a member of his team, but he'd definitely catch one just to test himself.

He waited several minutes until, finally, a flock flew over head.

"Bubbles, see if you can hit one with your bubble attack. Full blast, buddy," Gattsu commanded.

The Squirtle nodded and aimed upward, blasting the shiny, transparent spheres from his mouth once again. They sped upward toward the flock of bird Pokémon and collided with one of them. The Pokémon began to fall rapidly just before catching itself and glaring down toward Gattsu and his companion.

The bird, which had ruffled, brown feathers and a creamy-beige stomach, let out an angry chirp and darted toward Bubbles.

"Look out, try and dodge-" Gattsu called out, but it wasn't fast enough.

The bird collided with Bubbles hard and sent him stumbling back a bit, but it didn't seem to do too much damage.

"Counter with another bubble shot!"

Bubbles hit the bird at point-blank range with loads of the sparkling spheres, causing it to fall out of the sky, colliding with the ground. The bird looked around disoriented just before Gattsu tossed an empty Pokéball at it. The Pokéball opened up and scooped the Pokémon inside before landing on the ground with a soft thud.

The ball then did something that confused Gattsu, it began to shake about, wildly at first, almost as if the Pokémon was trying to bust out, but soon it calmed down and finally stopped all together. A soft click was heard as if the ball had been sealed and Gattsu jumped up and down joyfully, shouting "I caught my first Pokémon!"

Gattsu and Bubbles ran up to the Pokéball to see an exhausted, miniature, brown bird inside. He picked the ball up and looked at his new Pokémon with a smile. "Don't worry, buddy, I'll heal you up quick. Just gotta get to Viridian."

Gattsu then realized that he didn't even know the name of the Pokémon. He reached into his pocket and grabbed the Pokédex, a high-tech encyclopedia given to him by Professor Oak, and held the small camera lens up to his Pokéball.

The Pokédex's monotonous, computerized voice spoke out saying "Pokémon number sixteen, Pidgey. This Pokémon typically doesn't like to fight, but will do so if provoked. It usually hides in grass and eats small bugs."

Gattsu smiled and held the ball up so he could see the Pidgey better.  
"So, your name is Pidgey? You're kinda cute. I'll get you to a Pokémon Center as soon as possible, buddy. Hang in there."

Gattsu put the Pokéball into his pocket and smirked. The feeling in his stomach was so hard to contain, he just wanted to run, jump and scream as loud as he could, but he wouldn't because people would think he was insane. Instead, he continued North toward Viridian, having only a few more encounters with Pidgey and a small rat-type Pokémon who's name happened to be Rattata. He didn't catch anything else on route 1.

The day light slowly began to fade as it became later and later. Gattsu had found a small field where he could set up his tent and camp out. He had brought several things with him; a cell-phone, a medium-sized tent, plenty of food, water, and snacks, his Pokédex and Pokéballs, 4 of which were empty, and a few other odds and ends.

He set up his tent before the sun had completely set and released his Pidgey from his round container, allowing him to stretch his wings and walk around for a bit.

The Pokéball seemed to have an odd way of establishing control over a Pokémon because Pidgey didn't seem to want to leave Gattsu after it's capture. Instead, it would walk around within a few feet of the tent and often return to Gattsu, nipping gently at his shirt to show he wanted affection or a nut.

Bubbles was more independent than Pidgey. When the tent had first been set up, Gattsu told his Pokémon they could explore a bit but not to get into trouble or travel too far into the woods surrounding. The first thing the curious Squirtle did was run off happily. Gattsu wasn't worried, though, he and Bubbles had quite a connection since day one. Sure enough, about an hour later, Bubbles had come running back happily and without so much as a scratch.

Bubbles and Pidgey seemed to enjoy each others company and that pleased Gattsu. They should have other Pokémon friends, not just humans.

Gattsu had opened his pack to get some food out when he discovered that there was something inside he hadn't put there. He pulled the object out, it was a small spray bottle with a large P on the front. A note was attached to it as well, which Gattsu had pulled off and read.

Gattsu, this was another present from me, your dad. It's called a Potion, they're used to heal up Pokémon a bit, so use it when needed. Love ya'.

:)

Gattsu smiled and called Pidgey over, which happily obeyed.

"Here, buddy, I got something for ya'," he said as he sprayed the contents of the bottle onto Pidgey. Pidgey let out a happy chirp and fluttered about, enjoying the effects of the potion but not the fact that he was wet.

"You look happy. I hope you feel better," Gattsu said with a smile. Pidgey looked up and chirped again, flapping his wings happily before trotting into the tent and laying down in a bundle of sticks he'd placed there earlier.

"Well, guess it's time for bed. Come on, Bubbles," Gattsu said. Bubbles came walking toward him when Gattsu noticed something odd. A group of people, all dressed in black jackets with a yellow-orange R on the front. They also wore black news-boy caps, black pants and gray boots. Then, Gattsu noticed that they all had Pokéballs attached to their belts.

"Trainers. If I wasn't so tired, I would ask them to battle," he said just before yawning.

"Spread out, I heard it was somewhere around route one. We've gotta find it or he'll be angry!" one of the group members said.

Gattsu raised his eyebrow, wondering what they were talking about. Perhaps a rare Pokémon? Oh well, it wasn't his problem. He went into his tent with Bubbles and layed down, drifting off into a much-needed sleep.

The next day, Gattsu awoke to the chirping of Pidgey flying over head. He looked at his two Pokémon and smiled, sitting up and pulling out each of their Pokéballs. "All right, you two, rest some more inside your Pokéballs, I'll call on you if I get into a battle," Gattsu said, putting both Pokémon in their containers.

He packed up his camp, looking at the path to see if there was any trace of the grop of trainers he'd seen the night before. There wasn't. Gattsu shrugged and loaded all of his stuff, walking back to the path and heading North once again.

The day wasn't nearly as eventful as the one before. No trainers were spotted on route one which upset Gattsu, but it couldn't be helped. He did battle with a few more Pidgey and Rattata. He also spotted a different Pokémon. It was very long with light-brown fur. It darted past him so quickly that he couldn't even get a reading on it with the Pokédex. That was the only one he'd seen there.

After about three and a half hours of walking up the grass and cliffs of route one, Gattsu had reached a a small building with a sign beside it that read "Viridian City Gateway"

"Finally here," he said to himself as he walked through the automatic double doors.

"Welcome to the evergreen city, Viridian!" came an unfamiliar voice to Gattsu's right. He turned to see a lady behind a desk smiling at him. Gattsu walked over and she continued, "I'm sure you'll find the city just lovely, although I do have to tell each guest that the Viridian City Gym leader has been missing for quite sometime. We're really sorry about that. But do visit our mart, we have a nice selection of items that anyone, trainer or not, can enjoy! Welcome."

Gattsu smiled and nodded at her, "Thanks," he said nicely before walking North out of the automatic double-doors.

Viridian was nothing like he'd imagined. It was _very _green and quite breezy, sort of like Pallet. It was also not much bigger than Pallet Town was, which was shocking.

He walked through the city, looking about just before discovering the Pokémon slightly North-East from the gateway. He started toward it.

The Center was pretty empty, probably because there wasn't any battles going on at the time. Gattsu went up to the nurse who happily greeted him.

"Can you heal my two Pokémon up? They're not very injured but I want them to be in top shape for what's next," Gattsu said.

"Of course, just a moment," the nurse replied, taking his Pokéballs and setting them on a machine similar to the one Professor Oak used a couple of days ago.

While Gattsu was waiting, he took out his cell-phone and called his father, updating him on his journey and making small talk for a little while before Steve let Gattsu go. Next, Gattsu called Professor Oak.

"Hey, Professor, it's Gattsu. I'm just calling to let you know I made it to Viridian. I have a Pidgey to transfer to you. How do I do that?" Gattsu asked.

"Hello, Gattsu. Glad you've made it to Viridian. Green made it there last night so you're not far behind him. And I knew I forgot to tell you something. In every Pokémon Center, there's a transfer system that can be used publically. Just place your Pokéball in the appropriate slot and choose where to send it, which would be to me, of course."

"All right, Professor. Thanks again for Bubbles," he realized he hadn't informed anyone of Squirtle's new name, "that's what I've decided to call Squirtle because of the first attack he learned with me as his trainer. I'll talk to you later on, bye."

Gattsu hung up the phone just in time for the nurse to bring him his Pokéballs.

"They're in tip-top shape now. Hope you have a nice time in Viridian," she said as she handed the balls to Gattsu.

"Thanks, miss. I will," he responded with a grin. Afterward, he spotted the transfer system and headed toward it. It was a pretty complicated looking machine, but the computer attached to it was user-friendly.

The screen read "Touch here to start" so Gattsu pressed the button. A slot next to the PC opened up. It was round and just big enough for a Pokéball. There was a tube-shaped object leading from the wall to the slot. Gattsu placed the Pokéball into the contraption and then more buttons flashed onto the computer screen.

"To Prof. Oak", "To Bill", "To Prof. Birch" were just a few options. Gattsu knew that the first option was his so he pressed it and the slot closed. The machine made a noise that sounded kinda like electricity and wind and then the screen read "Transfer Complete. Thanks for using the Pokémon Transfer System!"

Gattsu smiled and then realized he didn't even say goodbye to his Pidgey. He frowned and thought _poor Pidgey. I guess I'll see him again when I go back to Pallet. _And shook the thought out of his head. He then looked at Bubbles' Pokéball and smiled. "All right, let's go."

As Gattsu stepped out of the Pokémon Center, he tossed Bubbles' Pokéball to the ground, the young Squirtle emerging upon impact and letting out a happy cry. Gattsu looked down and nodded then looked back up to the city and gazed around for a moment.

_No trainers in sight, so what to do? _He thought just before coming up with an idea. "All right, let's go see what's going on over at the Gym. Maybe I can find out just what a Gym is, anyway," he said to his Pokémon, which replied with a nod. The two strolled North toward the Viridian City Gym.

Upon arrival, they noticed a sign on the front door that said "The leader of the Viridian City Gym is away. He will return at his earliest convenience. Sorry for the trouble."

"Hmm," said Gattsu, "it's locked tight and no one seems to be in there," he said to himself after knocking a few times and trying the handle. "Oh well, that's too bad. I guess we'll just wander the city. We're bound to run into another trainer eventually, right?"

He turned to hop off the hill that the Gym was built on but there was someone there, someone who looked very familiar.

The man was wearing black clothes and a black hat. The shirt had an orange R on it. Gattsu remembered seeing them the night before walking around route one and talking about a Pokémon they were searching for. Now that he got a closer look, this man's face was very menacing.

"Just what're you doing at this gym, kid? It's closed. Didn't the gate lady tell you-" but then he stopped and looked down at Gattsu's Squirtle. "Well, what do we have here? This Pokémon is _very _rare. The boss would love to get his hands on one."

Gattsu heard his words and stepped back, his back hitting the Gym. "I'm sorry, but you can't have Bubbles."

"Bubbles?! Who would give such an amazing Pokémon such a ridiculous name?" replied the man in laughter, "I wasn't asking, kid. Consider that Pokémon mine." With these words, the man dressed in black pulled a Pokéball off of his belt and threw it to the ground. What emerged was Rattata, a purple rat type Pokémon. This one looked particularly vicious. It let out a loud screech.

"We've faced Rattata before, we'll do it again," Gattsu said with confidence. Bubbles stepped up and also had a wave of confidence come over him.

"Rattata, attack him quickly! Let's get this over with," the man dressed in black called out.

Rattata darted toward Bubbles and dived into his stomach, knocking him down briefly.

"Get up and hit him with a bubble attack!" Gattsu commanded.

The Squirtle hopped to his feet and blasted the painful, transparent spheres toward Rattata, who dodged them with ease.

"Hah, it'll take more than that to hit Rattata, you fool. You don't even know what you're doing. This Pokémon would be much better with Te-"

While the man was babbling, the Squirtle had tackled Rattata, causing it to let out a painful screech.

"All right!" Gattsu cheered, "now repeat that attack!"

Bubbles backed up and charged toward Rattata again.

"Bite!"

Rattata hissed and jumped at the charging Squirtle, sinking his large fangs into Bubbles' arm. Bubbles cried out, slinging the small Pokémon off of him by flailing wildly. The impact with the ground seemed to cause Rattata a bit of pain.

"It's okay, hit him with a bubble attack. We'll win this!" Gattsu assured.

Bubbles nodded and attacked once more with his water-based attack. This time, the bubbles collided with Rattata, exploding painfully across it's body causing it to hiss out in pain.

"Shit," the man said, "Rattata, get back." He tossed his Pokéball at the injured Pokémon containing it and clipping the ball to his belt. "Now you're in for it kid," he said as he pulled out an odd device that looked like a cross between a cell-phone and his red Pokédex.

"Hey, we've got a rare Pokémon at the Gym. Bring reinforcements to ensure we get this one. No, it is _very _rare. It's a Squirtle. Okay, good." He hung up the gadget and looked to Gattsu, stepping toward him slowly.

"Now you're done for, my comrades will be here in less than a minute. Oh, there they are now," he said as five more people with the same outfit came sprinting toward them.

Gattsu's back was to the wall and they all quickly surrounded him and his Squirtle.

"You weren't lying, it _is _a Squirtle. Boss would love this," said a female member with brown hair.

"No shit I wasn't lying, now grab the Pokémon and let's beat this kid so he can't follow us," said the first man.

The six of them closed in, the brown-haired woman snagged Bubbles.

"No!" Gattsu called out, but was immediately silenced when someone's foot collided with his stomach. He collapsed to the ground, coughing and clutching his gut.

"Get out of here with it, we'll take care of the kid," one of the people called out. Gattsu wasn't sure who.

He looked up at the five surrounding him with anger. "You won't take Bubbles from me," he said.

The five men began to laugh out loud. While they were doing so, Gattsu leapt up and punched the closest one in the face, sending him backward and causing him to fall off of the hill that the Gym sat on.

"You little bastard!" the man he met first yelled out, punching him in the face and sending him back to the ground. They began to pummel him with punches and kicks, forcing him to curl up, feeling the barrage of violent attacks hit him all over.

"Growlithe, flamethrower!" he heard through the assault.

Next, he heard several screams of agony and felt intense heat near him. He looked up and saw that all five of the men who'd been beating him had just been almost fried by some kind of flame. He looked over toward the direction he heard the command come from and noticed an officer walking toward him with a small Pokémon that resembled a dog with orange and cream-colored fur with black markings along his coat.

"Are you okay, kid?" he asked as he helped Gattsu to his feet.

"I don't know..." Gattsu said under tears, "they took my Pokémon."

"Is it a Squirtle?" the officer questioned.

"Yes! It's name is Bubbles! Did you see where the person went?!"

"We got your Pokémon. We caught the thief as she was running toward the forest. Don't worry, we'll get you to the station where the Squirtle is."

As soon as the officer said that, Gattsu heard Bubbles' cry and looked in the direction. The Squirtle was running toward him anxiously and when he reached Gattsu, he leapt into his arms. Gattsu hugged his Pokémon tightly and said "I'm so sorry that happened! It won't ever again, okay?"

The officer smiled, looking back to see another officer running toward them. When she reached them she said "It just took off... I couldn't keep up... with it," between heavy breaths.

"It's okay," the other officer replied, "this is his Pokémon anyways. Now let's get these Rocket members put away."

The two began to cuff the five thugs as they groaned in agony.

"Excuse me," Gattsu said, limping toward the officers. "Rocket members? What is Rocket?"

"Team Rocket is a criminal organization. They use Pokémon to do their evil bidding. We've been trying to put a stop to them for years now but there's so many of them. I advise you to stay away from Team Rocket. We're currently searching for their base of operations. Think we're close to finding it, too."

"Yeah," the female officer said, "we believe it to be somewhere in Celadon-"  
"Shh! That's top secret information, rookie!" the male member said, trying to hush her up. Gattsu had already heard.

_So, Celadon City, huh? I'll have to remember that, _he thought while nodding.

"Okay well, thanks so much for the help. I am so happy to have Bubbles back. Thanks again," Gattsu said with a painful smile as he turned and walked toward the Pokémon Center once more.

Luckily for Gattsu, the Pokémon Center allowed both Pokémon and their trainers to stay over night if needed. And it was definitely needed after that incident. Not for Bubbles, but more for him. He would spend the rest of the night sleeping due to physical pain and exhaustion.

The next morning, Gattsu awoke in pain, but he could bare it. He couldn't believe there was a criminal organization out there who wanted to steal his Squirtle. The thought scared him. He shook the thought away as he walked out of his room and toward the front desk.

"Good morning, Gattsu. I hope you're okay. Luckily for you, nothing got broken. Bubbles is fully healed, by the way," she said as she handed him the Pokéball in which his Pokémon was in. "Here's these too, bandages for your wounds. Your current ones won't last forever. Be sure to switch them out, okay. And be careful. Team Rocket is a nasty lot. Stay far away from them."

"Thanks so much, nurse," Gattsu said with a smile. Smiling hurt. "I'll be sure to be extra cautious, but trouble will probably find me again. Especially since I'm headed to the Forest."

The nurse looked concerned but shook the expression away. "I'm sure you'll be fine. You've got a tough partner and you're pretty tough yourself. See ya', Gattsu."

With that, Gattsu left.

Viridian Forest was only a short walk North. No trainers and, thankfully, no Team Rocket members were around for now.

Gattsu walked through the gateway seperating the city from the forest, then walked through the exit, finding himself in a vast forest. The sky wasn't even visible. The first thing he saw, apart from trees, were three trainers glaring at him. They weren't Rocket members, but they looked just as menacing. They approached him.

"Hey kid," one said. He looked to be the oldest so Gattsu assumed he was the leader of the pack. "How about a little wager match? If you win, we'll give you our best Pokémon. But if _we _win, you give us yours."

Gattsu's bravery was at an all time low. He was still afraid due to yesterday's event. He began to back up toward the gateway when the three of them tossed out their Pokémon simultaneously.

Two of them looked like large, green worms with rings on their bodies and large black eyes. Their heads had an odd shaped horn on top. The third Pokémon was similar. It's body was split into round sections like the first two but it was brown and it's horn was silver and pointy and it had a big, round, red nose. The three Pokémon and their trainers closed in on Gattsu.

"That's not exactly fair, now is it?" came a familiar voice from behind him. The three trainers looked surprised as another trainer strolled up beside Gattsu.

"Green?" Gattsu said happily. "They're trying to jump me."  
"I can see that. Look, I consider you a rival, but you're also a partner. For now, let's take these idiots down. And what's this I heard about a wager?" Green smirked and grabbed his Pokéball. Gattsu took his lead and prepared for a battle.

* * *

Current known teams at the end of chapter 2:

Gattsu:  
Squirtle (Bubbles) Lv. 9

Sam:  
Bulbasaur Lv. greater than 9

Green:  
Charmander Lv. greater than 9

* * *

Days left until Sam is a trainer: 7


	3. Chapter 3: The Gym Challenge

Pokémon  
the Adventures of Gattsu

Chapter 3  
The Gym Challenge

Gattsu couldn't have been happier to see Green at this point. He was being jumped by three trainers and Green had come at the best possible time. Now Gatts and Green were facing two Caterpie and a Weedle, according to the Pokédex.

"All right, Bubbles, let's do this," Gattsu said, tossing his Pokéball toward the trio of Pokémon. His Squirtle emerged with an energetic and confident look on his face. Green smirked and let his Pokéball roll out of his hand. What emerged wasn't the Charmander that Gattsu was expecting, or was it?

It looked like a larger version of Charmander. More ferocious, as well. The flame on it's tail was a bit bigger and it also had what could only be described as a horn that hadn't emerged from the skin just yet. It was far more terrifying than the cute Charmander it had evolved from.

"Green, your Charmander-"  
"Charmeleon," Green corrected.  
"What? Is that it's nickname?" Gattsu asked.

"No, idiot. It evolved. When a Pokémon gets a certain amount of battle experience, it toughens up and some can evolve into more powerful forms. This is the second of three forms in the Charmander evolutionary chain."

Gattsu didn't realize that Pokémon changed shape. The idea was actually pretty cool, in his opinion. He looked to his Squirtle and grinned, not being able to wait for it's evolution.

"All right, bugs against a fire type? Your odds aren't looking too good. Charmeleon, take out the Weedle."

Charmeleon nodded and turned toward the Weedle, grinning. He closed his mouth and opened it again, exhaling flames which seemed to effect Weedle quite a bit, because it fainted after one hit.

"Weedle!" the trainer said, returning it to it's Pokéball. He dropped to his knees, looking through the transparent red top of the ball.

Gattsu said "All right, Bubbles, tackle the Caterpie on the right!"

The energetic Squirtle charged toward the appropriate Caterpie, slamming into it with a violent thud. The Caterpie cried out but was still up.

"All right, string-shot, Caterpie! Let's slow 'em down!" called out one of the trainers.

"You too," the other trainer yelled out to his own Caterpie.

Both Caterpie blasted white thread from their mouths. It stuck to the Charmeleon and Squirtle but seemed to have no effect right away. Green looked toward Gattsu and laughed loudly.

"Tackle!" one of the trainers called out.

Green looked back in time to see one of the Caterpie slamming into Charmeleon's chest, knocking him to the ground. Charmeleon looked more annoyed than injured as he shoved the Caterpie off of him.

"Finish it with a tackle," Green commanded.

Charmeleon lowered it's head and slammed into the Caterpie, knocking it out.

"Finish your foe off with bubble," Gattsu commanded his Pokémon. Bubbles did as he was instructed, blasting the Caterpie to the point of fainting. The three trainers had been defeated succesfully.

"Dammit, Doug!" one of the trainers said to another, "now we have to give up our Pok-"

"Keep them. Gattsu and I have more dignity than to use those pathetic things in our teams, right Gatts?" Green interrupted.

"Uh..." Gattsu hesitated, not being as rude as Green.  
"Let's go, we've got better things to do," Green said to Gatts.

"Hold up," came a voice from within a thicker part of the forest. Someone came walking through.

"Sammy, we lost," one of the three trainers they just defeated said to the new trainer.

"I'm aware. You should be ashamed. I'll take care of this."

Sammy stood in front of Green and Gattsu's path as he unclipped two Pokéballs from his belt. "I have two Pokémon so this is still a fair battle. Same wager applies. If I win, I get your Pokémon. If you win, you take mine."

Green scoffed. "Enough with the wagers. I don't want your Pokémon, but if I lose to you then not only will I hand my Pokémon over, but I'll quit training because I'd be the worst trainer mankind has ever seen."

Gattsu looked at Green as if to say "that was cold," but kept it to himself. He looked back to Sammy and then to Bubbles, nodding at him telling him to prepare for another battle.

"Butterfree, Beedrill, let's take 'em out!" Sammy said as he tossed both Pokéballs outward. Two new Pokémon had emerged, one resembling a large Butterfly and the other resembling a huge bee with two sharp stingers as hands.

"Butterfree, confusion on the Charmeleon! Beedrill, fury attack on the Squirtle!"

The two Pokémon flew toward their targets. Butterfree had a concentrated look on it's face as Charmeleon seemed to be in agony, falling to his knees and clutching his head.

"Charmeleon, what's going on?!" Green called out.

"Bubbles, dodge!"

The Beedrill thrust all three stingers, trying to land a hit on the Squirtle as it scrambled to dodge. It was only a matter of time before one hit so Gattsu came up with a new idea.

"Bubbles, withdraw into your shell and defend from there until I tell you!"

Bubbles' head, arms, and legs popped into his shell and it fell to the ground just as one of Beedrill's stingers struck. It had almost no effect, of course.

"Charmeleon, try and focus long enough to hit Butterfree with ember!" Green called out as Charmeleon cried out in pain. It seemed to get the command because it began standing on it's feet. It actually managed to shoot out a burst of flame but it went nowhere near the Butterfree. After the attack, Charmeleon fell to the ground.

The Beedrill persisted, slamming his stingers into Bubbles' shell, increasing the force with each hit.

"Bubbles, we can't defend anymore, pop out and hit him with bubble as fast as you can, then withdraw once more!"

The Squirtle waited for the best time to emerge from his shell. Right after the stinger struck his shell, he popped out, dodging the next attack and blasting transparent spheres at Beedrill. They popped violently against his body and it seemed to have a bit of an effect, but Beedrill wasn't down. Not yet.

"Look out!" Gattsu called just before the stinger collided with the Squirtle's head. Bubbles cried out and fell to the ground. Beedrill closed in on him.

Things weren't looking good for either Gattsu nor Green.

"Gatts, we need to do something. We're about done," Green said.

Gattsu pondered on how to get out of the situation but nothing seemed solid enough to work. Beedrill went to deliver the final blow to Bubbles and Gattsu closed his eyes, scared of what would come next.

_That's it. I've lost my Pokémon. I only have Pidgey but what's the point? If I can't even save Bubbles then I am a failure. I'll go back to Pallet in shame and admit that my dad was right. I wasn't ready to be a trainer. What was I even thinking?_

Gattsu looked up and what he saw blew his mind. Bubbles was holding onto both of Beedrill's stingers, but it wasn't Squirtle anymore. It was a bit bigger and it had fluffy white ears and a bushy white tail. It had evolved and just in the nick of time.

"All right, Bubbles, good work! You stopped his attack. Now it's time to finish him off. Water based attacks aren't strong enough so... just bite him!"

The newly evolved Bubbles nodded with a cry of confidence. He slammed Beedrill into the ground and chomped down hard on his thin body. The Beedrill let out a loud cry and struggled momentarily before fainting.

Green witnessed the whole thing and it brough him confidence as well. "We can't be shown up, Charmeleon. I know you're in pain but don't be weak! Hit him with an ember and put everything you've got into it!"

Charmeleon managed to get back up again and blast the largest ember any of the trainers had ever seen. It engulfed the enemy Pokémon and, when the flames cleared, it fell from the sky with smoke billowing off of it's body.

Gattsu looked to Green then back to Bubbles. He couldn't help himself. He ran up to the new Pokémon and hugged it tight. "We did it! You evolved and we won the battle! Amazing job, buddy!"

Green scoffed at the childish display and looked to Charmeleon, nodding with a smile before returning it to it's capsule. He then walked up to Sammy and delivered a punch that connected with his face, sending the bug trainer sprawling to the forest floor.

"Green, what are you doing?!" Gattsu called out running toward him.

Green stood over Sammy and looked to the three younger trainers. "Get out of here before I kick all of your asses!"

The three had terrified looks as they helped Sammy up and ran off after returning the Beedrill and Butterfree to their Pokéballs. Within seconds they were out of sight.

"Why did you attack them!?" Gattsu yelled.

Green ignored him, walking further into the forest.

"Answer me, why did you do th-"

"You're too soft," Green replied, "those trainers were ruthless. They attacked you and had an unfair advantage. You _should _be thanking me. They deserved everything they got."

"Y-you're... I guess you're right. Thanks, Green. I would've lost without you there. You're a reliable friend."

"Don't be mistaken. I don't consider you a friend. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have things to do."

With that, Green walked off into the thick part of the forest, leaving Gattsu and Bubbles alone. Gattsu sighed, pulling his Pokédex from his pocket. "Let's see what your name is," he said as he flipped the cover over and let the dex get a reading.

"Pokémon number eight, Wartortle. A very fast swimmer and a very popular pet. It's tail represents longevity and it uses it's ears to balance."

"So, you're name is Wartortle? You may look different, but you're still Bubbles on the inside." Gattsu said as he smiled and laughed slightly. "Well, let's get going. We've got a long way until we get through the forest." And, with that, they set off deeper into the forest.

Gattsu stayed in the Viridian Forest for one whole day before finally finding his way out to the north. There wasn't much that happened in Viridian apart from the capture of a new Pokémon named Pikachu. It was an electric-mouse type Pokémon that Gattsu only saw one of. Considering the fact that it seemed rare, he managed to capture it but didn't plan to keep it in his team.

The forest's exit is just south of Pewter City. From what Gattsu remembers, there's a museum there with a lot of Pokémon fossils which he was pretty excited about. He assumed there'd also be a gym there and hopefully this one wouldn't be closed.

He passed through the gateway and the lady at the desk inside didn't have anything to say to him so he just walked through and came out into Pewter City. His first impression was it seemed very dull. It was bigger than Viridian and the scenery was pretty cool. It was nestled between rugged mountains and rocks. The first thing Gattsu wanted to do was visit the Museum of Science.

As he approached the large building all the way to the north of the city, he noticed a sign that read;

**NOTICE!**

Thieves have been stealing Pokémon fossils at Mt. Moon! Please call Pewter Police with any info.

_Sounds like Team Rocket_ Gattsu thought as he passed the sign and walked through the doors. There was a small fee for a child to get in, but it was definitely worth it.

Several fossils and pictures of ancient Pokémon were laid out on the first floor. They looked so much different than they do now. Much more ferocious. Gattsu was particularly interested in one named Aerodactyl. _Too bad they don't exist anymore _he would think as he passed by their remains.

Upstairs was a pretty cool exibit as well. It was all about space. There were samples of metorites and even a story about Moon Stones and the Pokémon named Clefairy coming from the moon. It was all so interesting and it took him several hours to get through the entire thing.

By the time Gattsu exited, it was already fairly late. He contemplated waiting until the next day to challenge the gym, there was one, but decided to do it now. He was anxious to find out what it was even all about.

The gym was located just south-west of the museum and it was very hard to miss because it said "Pewter City Gym" above it in large letters. Gattsu walked in and noticed that the terrain wasn't normal for a building. There were giant boulders and stones placed all over the floor making it hard to walk. Right by the door there were two stone tablets on pillars with writing engraved that read;

**Pewter City Gym**

**Leader: Brock**

**Approved Trainers:**

Underneath "Approved Trainers:" was a very long list of names. Gattsu was then approached by a man wearing a white coat and black glasses. He said "Aah, hello. Are you here to face Brock?"

"Brock? I'm assuming he's the guy who is in charge of the gym. Yeah, I guess I am, but I am new to the whole gym thing. Can you explain it to me?" Gattsu asked.

"Of course, consider me your personal guide to success. The Pokémon League Challenge is a challenge that each region has in which trainers in that region travel to various cities trying to collect eight gym badges. You get the badges by defeating the gym leaders in Pokémon battles. Each gym has their own rules as well but most of the time it's a basic battle."

"And what happens once I collect all eight?"

"Well, you get a chance to compete in the Pokémon League, of course. It's a huge tournament held every year. All of the trainers who have collected the badges of that region battle in a preliminary tournament to determind the eight best trainers of the league. Then they have the official tournament and the winner is crowned champion for the year. Becoming champion is quite an honor and it can come with benefits. For example, you could become a member of the Elite 4 or you could even take over a gym. There's all the recognition and popularity you get, of course. It's just exciting."

"I see, that sounds amazing. I think I want to take a shot at being champion," Gattsu said.

"Well, good luck to you. Unfortunately, Brock is done accepting challenges this afternoon. But you can still battle his gym hands. Brock has a rule where you can't face him until you've proven yourself by defeating his two gym hands. They're basically trainers that Brock hand-picked to help him out. So if you'd like, I'll go get the first gym hand for you."

"Sure, that sounds like a plan. I'll wait here."

With that, the man was gone. Moments later he returned with a boy who seemed a little older than Gattsu.

"So, you want to face Brock, huh? Well, you've got to get through me and my partner before he'll even consider you. Of course you may as well just go home now, you're light years away from standing a chance here."

Gattsu was a little intimidated. He didn't know what was in store. Even ordinary trainers were challenging to defeat. This was an official gym hand. The leader hand-picked him. And even if he _did _beat the two hands, how would he fare against Brock himself?

"Hey, kid," the man in white whispered, "this gym uses rock type Pokémon. I'm not supposed to tell you this, but they're weak to grass, fighting, and water type Pokémon. Good luck."

And with that, the match was on. The trainer threw his Pokéball and out emerged what looked like a small boulder with muscular arms. It levitated and it looked like it had on hell of a defense.

"You seem afraid of Geodude. You should be," the trainer said.

"All right, let's see what the gym challenge is all about, Bubbles!" Gattsu tossed out his Pokéball and his Wartortle emerged. Immediately upon seeing the Pokémon, the gym hand looked terrified. Gattsu grinned. "Let's end it quickly. Water Gun!"

Bubbles blasted a powerful spout of water from his mouth. It collided with Geodude and looked to cause tremendous amounts of pain because Geodude hit the ground almost instantly, shaking the gym a bit.

"A one hit K.O! Good job," said the man in the white coat. "I'll go get the second gym hand. One moment."

After the man left, the trainer whom Gattsu just beat walked up and offered him a hand-shake, which Gattsu took.

"You're really good. Wartortle was a great choice against Geodude. You must know what you're doing."

"I'm still learning, but let's say I know some of the basics," Gattsu said with a smile.

"Say, where are you from?"

"Pallet Town, why?"

"I should've guessed," the trainer said, "everyone who comes here from Pallet does amazingly. We faced someone earlier today who blew through all three of us. His name was Green, I think."

"Green's already been here? Wow. Him and I left Pallet on the same day. He is a very good trainer."

The gym aide returned with the second Gym Hand. This guy was big and burly, he had a round body and looked like one of the boulders that made up the gym's terrain.

"All right," the aide said, "round two is to start now!"

The next trainer had tossed his Pokéball and out came a cute, yellow Pokémon who looked like his body was made up of a hard sort of shell. The instant it came out it burrowed it's way underground.

"Stay sharp, Bubbles, I don't know what this Pokémon is capable of," Gattsu warned.

Bubbles looked about, trying to feel when the Pokémon would pop out of the ground.

"Slash, Sandshrew!" the trainer shouted.

The Pokémon, Sandshrew, emerged quickly from beneath Gattsu's Wartortle and dug his claws into Bubbles' stomach, causing him to let out a painful cry. The Wartortle fell to the ground with Sandshrew on top of him.

"Fury cutter!" the trainer commanded.

Sandshrew started swiftly slashing all over Bubbles' body.

"Shove him off and counter with bubble!"

Wartortle regained his composure and pushed Sandshrew off of him, getting slowly back to his feet and blasting the sparkling bubbles toward Sandshrew. They collided, but they didn't knock him out.

"Rollout!" Sandshrew's trainer called out.

Sandshrew rolled into a ball and began spinning rapidly, launching toward Bubbles almost blindingly quick.

"Dodge it!" Gattsu requested.

Bubbles barely managed to step out of the way but Sandshrew persisted. He turned about and headed right back toward the Wartortle like a ball of energy. Bubbles managed to jump over the second one but Sandshrew was picking up speed.

"We gotta do something quick! He's coming back. Quickly, grab him!"

Bubbles allowed the Sandshrew's rollout attack to connect, but he wrapped his arms around the Sandshrew as he went flying backwards and landed on his shell.

"Hit him with water gun at point-blank range!"

"No, Sandshrew!"

The Wartortle blasted water at the rolled-up Sandshrew, sending him sprawling to the ground. He was out. Gattsu managed to win. He couldn't contain his excitement. He ran up to the Wartortle and picked him up, tossing him in the air and catching him again.

"We did it! You were amazing!"

The two trainers and the aide were applauding Gattsu.

"You did very well," came a voice from the far end of the gym.

Walking toward them was a tall figure with spikey brown hair and very squinty eyes. He was tanned and looked rugged.

"My name is Brock, I am the gym leader of Pewter City. Your battling was impressive. I can't battle you today because my Pokémon are resting after all of the battles today, but know that tomorrow our battle will be held. I may have a disadvantage but there's a reason I'm the gym leader here. Be prepared, Gattsu. Nice meeting you." And, with that, he was gone. Gattsu didn't even have a chance to say hello.

Gattsu was on cloud nine after his double victory against Brock's gym hands. He felt like Pokémon battles were always a part of his life even though he just got into them a few days ago. It was all so exciting and tomorrow would be the gym battle. He couldn't wait. Sleep came hard that night due to his anxiety, but eventually he drifted off.

Gattsu had very strange dreams that night. He dreamed that he had a full team of Pokémon and that he had just become champion of Kanto that year. Every time he looked at his Pokémon, they'd become shadowed as if he wasn't allowed to look at them. He didn't recognize any of their shapes but none of them looked like Bubbles. Eventually the dream faded and he woke up the next morning. After about an hour, he forgot about the dream all together.

Gattsu and Bubbles had breakfast at the Pokémon Center they stayed at before heading out into Pewter. Gattsu headed straight for the gym as soon as he stepped out of the Pokémon Center, unable to contain his excitement for the battle to come. It would be great.

Upon arriving at the gym, Brock was sitting on top of the largest boulder waiting for him. "It's about time, I figured you'd have been here sooner, Gattsu."

It had just occurred to him that he had never told Brock his name but he said it twice already. That struck him as odd but maybe he just over heard it. The thought left his mind shortly after he entered.

"Let's not waste time. You have one Pokémon so it will be a one on one match. My aide will make the calls. Let's get started."

Brock and Gattsu tossed their Pokéballs out at the same time. Gattsu's Wartortle emerged ready for battle but what Brock threw out was mind blowing. It looked like an enormous snake made entirely out of boulders. It had a large horn on it's head and a ferocious look. Gattsu had a feeling that it would take a lot to bring him down even if he was weak to water type attacks.

"Onix, trap him with rock tomb!"

The giant Onix slammed his rock tail into the ground so hard it shook the entire building, and possibility the city. It knocked Bubbles and Gattsu down but seemed to have no effect on Brock, who just stood there watching attentively.

Boulders began falling from the sky all around Bubbles. He was trapped.

"Climb out of there!" Gattsu commanded.

Bubbles began trying to get out of the boulder prison but Onix came slamming into the boulders, making them collide with the struggling Wartortle and sending him skidding hard against the rocky terrain.

"Get up! We can't lose this! We have to attack now. Water gun!"

Bubbles managed to get back on his feet and hopped onto a nearby boulder, spraying an intense stream of water at Onix. As little as the attack was in comparison to Onix's huge body, the move seemed to be effective. Onix looked pained as he was doused with high-pressure water.

"Onix, shake it off and hit him with rage!"

Onix seemed to glow red, he looked at Bubbles intensely, there was flare in his eyes. He seemed angry and ready to take it out on Gattsu's Pokémon. In the next instant, he was letting out an ear-shattering roar as he sped toward Bubbles at a very high speed.

"Withdraw!" Gattsu called out.  
Bubbles managed to duck into his shell at the last instant. Onix slammed into the Pokémon hard, sending the shell across the stadium, causing it to bounce off the wall and skid across the floor, spinning and rolling.

"Come out and hit him with another water gun!"

The Wartortle emerged looking as if it was in great pain but it launched the attack as commanded. It connected with Onix, looking to be more painful than last time.

"We're not out yet, Bubbles! Stay on your toes!"

"Finish him now, Onix. Rock throw. Don't stop until he's down."

Onix and Brock glared and Onix slammed his tail into a nearby boulder, sending it rocketing toward Bubbles. He managed to duck under but another was headed his way almost instantly. Bubbles rolled to the right and jumped over the third boulder, but there was one right above it. It collided hard with the Pokémon, sending him crashing into the ground. At first glance, Bubbles looked like it was done for. The aide was about to call the match but the persistent Pokémon began to get back to his feet, breathing heavily and looking incredibly hurt.

"All right, Wartortle, if we can land one more water gun, your most powerful yet, we can take this match! Let's go!"

Wartortle was on his feet and preparing the attack.

"We won't let him get it off. Rage, Onix," Brock said.

Onix seemed to gather his anger just before taking off toward Bubbles, who was still gathering his strength to launch his water gun atack.

"Now, Bubbles!" Gattsu screamed.

The Wartortle blasted the water right at the charging Onix. It collided directly with his face but Onix's momentum was too much. It collided with Bubble's and the two went skidding across the gym floor. Finally they came to a halt and Gattsu ran to his Pokémon. Brock hopped off the boulder he'd been standing on for the match and walked toward Onix. The aide was examining the field.

"Wow, it seems we have a tie. Onix and Wartortle have both fainted simultaneously. Brock, it's your call from here."

Brock nodded at his assistant and returned Onix to his Pokéball. Gattsu did the same with Bubbles. Brock approached Gattsu, who was looking at the miniaturized Pokémon, hoping it wasn't too injured, but how couldn't it be?

"You battled well, Gattsu." Brock stated. "Normally, I wouldn't award the Boulder Badge for a tie, but I know you have the blood of a master."

"I-I'm sorry?" Gattsu asked, confused.

"Take a look," Brock said, walking Gattsu over to the stone where the winning trainer's names were engraved. Sure enough, a few names down was Gattsu. "This is your grandfather, isn't it? He battled me. I'm not going to sugar coat it, I didn't stand a chance even with my strongest Pokémon. I know what you're capable of because him and I have battled several times and I never even came close to winning. Even now, his grandson comes to challenge me as a beginner and I can't win. You've earned this."

Brock reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, octagonal shaped badge. He handed it to Gattsu. "This is the Boulder Badge. It's proof that you beat my gym and are one step closer to the Pokémon League. Take it."

Gattsu was speechless. It felt like such an honor to battle him, especially after he heard the story about his grandfather. He reached out and took the Boulder Badge. A big smile was on his face as he pinned the badge onto his bag.

"Brock, thank you so much for this battle. I never knew my grandfather was here and battled you. I am proud to continue his legacy. I won't let you down. I will be the champion of Kanto."

"I believe you will, Gattsu. Your grandfather was the best trainer I've ever known... It was a tragedy what happened."

Gattsu wasn't exactly familiar with the details of his grandfather's life. All he knows is that he was a very depressed old man before his death. Gattsu was just barely old enough to remember that much.

"Go on, Gattsu. Go through Mount Moon and to Cerulean City. Be careful, though. I've been hearing things about the mountain."

"Thanks again, Brock. I will rest up and head toward Mount Moon tomorrow morning. It was great meeting you. I'll come back and have a rematch sometime."

And with that, Gattsu left the gym. Brock watched as he exited and went to his aide. "Keep me updated on him, will ya'? He's going to do amazing things." Shortly after that, a second "Gattsu" was carved into the tablet for approved trainers, just under the name Green.

Gattsu took his injured Wartortle to the Pokémon Center and spent the rest of the day resting and playing with Bubbles. Sleep came very easy that night but, little did he know, the next day would be very hectic.

* * *

Current known teams at the end of chapter 3:

Gattsu:  
Wartortle (Bubbles) Lv. 18

Sam:  
Bulbasaur Lv. greater than 9

Green:  
Charmeleon Lv. greater than 16

* * *

Days left until Sam is a trainer: 4

* * *

Badges:

Gattsu: 1

Green: ?

Sam: 0


	4. Chapter 4: Trouble at Mount Moon

Pokémon  
the Adventures of Gattsu

Chapter 4  
Trouble at Mount Moon

Before departing east toward Mount Moon, Gattsu remembered he had to transfer his Pikachu to Professor Oak. After a quick phone call, he did just that and checked on his Pidgey as well who was "doing very well" according to the Professor. Gattsu was sad that he couldn't travel with _all _of his Pokémon, but those were the official rules of being a trainer.

Gattsu set off toward Mount Moon at about 11 in the morning. It was a sunny day and there was a breeze that made Gattsu enjoy the walk while he was outside. He let Bubbles out of his Pokéball, thinking that he should be allowed to enjoy the day as well.

Mount Moon was only a short walk away. Route three was to the East of Pewter City and that's where Gattsu headed. He was determined to catch a new Pokémon as well. Whethere he'd use it in his team or not he wasn't yet sure, but he wanted to collect a fourth regardless.

There were several Pidgey on this route as well as another bird type the Pokédex called "Spearow" that Gattsu wasn't quite interested in catching just yet. In fact, Gattsu wasn't interested in any of the Pokémon on this route until he made it to about the middle and saw what he could only describe as a Pokémon mob beating up on another Pokémon. The mob was full of little white fuzz balls with brown skin and long tails and the Pokémon they were beating up on was a small, yellow armadillo looking Pokémon. It was a completely unfair fight so Gattsu would intervene.

"Hey!" he yelled. The fluffy mob of Pokémon turned to face him. They looked angry. "Leave that Pokémon alone!" At these words, the furry Pokémon charged toward Gattsu and his Wartortle.

"Water-gun," Gattsu said with confidence.

Bubbles obliged and blasted a large water-gun attack, blasting the group of about five away, disorienting them. They persisted, however, and Gattsu had his Pokémon hit them with yet another water-gun attack. This time, they seemed to be down for good.

Gattsu walked up to the yellow Pokémon and flipped out his Pokédex, getting the names of both types. The fuzzy white Pokémon were called "Mankey" and the yellow Pokémon was called "Sandshrew".

Sandshrew looked up to Gattsu and looked very hurt and sad. He slowly made his way to his feet and handed Gattsu a small piece of food before cuddling up to Gattsu's right leg. Gattsu frowned, feeling sorry for the injured Sandshrew, and picked him up. It looked scared of Gatts, who said "don't worry, little guy, you're fine now and I won't hurt you, okay?" He put the Sandshrew on the ground and smiled at him, but it clung to his leg again.

"Do... Do you want to come with me?" Gattsu asked, wondering if that's what the Pokémon was getting at.

At these words, Sandshrews eyes light up and it let out a cry that seemed to say "yes!" Gattsu smiled and realized that he already seemed to have an attachment to the yellow Pokémon.

"Okay then, it's settled," he said as he pulled an unoccupied Pokéball from his pack. "Welcome to the team, Sandshrew," he said as he tossed his Pokéball out, capturing the injured Pokémon. Gattsu looked down into the transparent side of the Pokéball to see his new Pokémon smiling up at him. He felt a flood of happiness come over him and clipped the occupied ball to his belt. "Now, let's get to Mount Moon."

Gattsu didn't capture anymore Pokémon on this route but he did have several battles before reaching the mountain. He healed his Sandshrew with a potion before battling with him, but when he did use him in battle, Sandshrew showed great skill. This pleased Gattsu, showing that Sandshrew would be an important asset to the team he was building.

After about fourty-five minutes, Gattsu reached the base of Mount Moon. Conveniently, there was a Pokémon Center placed in front of the mountain entrance which Gattsu used to heal his team. He made a call to his father to explain that he would be entering the mountain shortly and would probably not get signal. After the call and the treatment to his team, he exited the center and entered the mountain.

His first impression was that it was _very _cold and damp. He stepped in a few feet, looking around, trying to let his eyes adjust to the darkness. Lucky for him, there was a light system that ran through most of the cave.

Bat-like Pokémon flew in flocks all over the place. According to the Pokédex, they were called "Zubat". They didn't interest Gattsu just yet. There were also several Geodude which Gattsu had already encountered during his battle with Brock. Gattsu continued into the cave, following the lights that seemed to guide trainers through.

At first, the stroll through the cave was fairly smooth. Gattsu had some trainer encounters which he dealt with pretty handily, and he also battled several wild Pokémon, but as soon as he descended into a deeper part of the mountain, it seemed like everything went down the drain.

His first sign that bad things were going to occur in this cave was literally a sign in Pewter City that warned of Team Rocket's evil doings in the mountain. Gattsu kept this in the back of his mind the entire time he was in the mountain, hoping he wouldn't encounter them, but he did.

They were traveling in groups in one particular area deep in the mountain. As soon as Gattsu saw them, he hid behind a large boulder, listening.

"Okay, we're after rare Moon Stones and keep an eye out for M-"

There was an interruption, it was a trainer trying to walk through, probably attempting to make his way to the exit.

"Excuse me kid!" a man said, presumably the leader, as he shoved the young trainer to the ground. "This is not the place you want to be right now, understand?!"

The kid looked frightened, he must not know about Team Rocket. Gattsu was about to step out and defend the kid, but before he had the chance, the kid was up and running away.

"Now, let's split up. You two, with me. You three go down this channel. Got it?" And, with that, they dispersed.

Gattsu let out a sigh of relief as he stood up and stepped out from behind the boulder. _Close call_ he thought. He continued trecking through the mountain, hoping that would be the only encounter. He wouldn't be that lucky.

Gattsu got pretty far before coming to a large clearing. It was empty of Pokémon and trainers alike. _Weird, _Gattsu thought, _this has to be the right path. Where is everyone?_

Almost instantly after that thought, he heard footsteps coming from the path in front of him. He looked around, scared that it'd be Team Rocket. It was, and he didn't have anywhere to hide. The only thing he could do is fight. He gripped Bubbles' Pokéball and stood there, waiting for them to reach him.

It wasn't long before they appeard from the channel, looking very triumphant. Perhaps they'd found what they were looking for. Then, they noticed Gattsu.

"What's this? Another kid?" said the leader. It was the same one from before. "Why is this mountain so full of little children like you? Don't you know Pokémon training is for adults?"  
Gattsu began thinking about his last encounter with the infamous Team Rocket and his courage seemed to disappear.

"I'm going to take care of you, kid," he said as he tossed out a Pokéball. What emerged was a Sandshrew. This one, however, looked particularly mean and angry. Nothing like Gattsu's Sandshrew. Gattsu backed up and considered running away. He began to tremble and took another step backwards as the Sandshrew approached.

_This is it. I can't be a trainer. I should've quit back in Viridian City when I got beaten by Team Rocket that time... Now I really will lose Bubbles... And Sandshrew._

Thoughts flooded his mind. He was scared and shaking, then a positive thought entered his mind. His grandfather who's name he inherited. He was almost a Pokémon Master. He was famous. Gattsu had his grandfather's blood flowing through him and he was a natural at training Pokémon. Confidence flooded him as he stepped forward, glaring into the eyes of the Team Rocket group leader.

"Bubbles, let's do it," he said coolly as he tossed out his Pokéball. The Wartortle emerged and grinned, ready for battled.

"Sandshrew, swift!" the Rocket leader called out.

"Withdraw, then counter with water-gun," Gattsu said almost instantly after the Rocket member.

Sandshrew seemed to concentrate and bright star-shaped rays blasted toward Bubbles, who retrated into his shell as the rays collided with him.

The attack subsided and the Wartortle swiftly emerged from his shell, blasting a powerful stream of water into Sandshrew, sending him several feet backward and into the wall. It cried out in pain and collapsed briefly, breathing heavily before finally getting back to it's feet.

"Magnitude..." the Rocket member said.

Sandshrew suddenly dug into the ground quickly and Gattsu didn't know exactly what to expect.

"Brace yourself, Bubbles," he advised.

Suddenly the ground began to shake. Lightly at first but then it became much more violent.

"Watch out for debris!" Gattsu called out as stalactites and rocks began falling from the ceiling of the mountain they were inside.

The Wartortle tried to dodge what he could but small rocks pelted him over and over before a large group of rocks and some small boulders burried the Wartortle.

"No! Wartortle!" Gattsu called out running toward the piled of rocks. He pulled them off, finally getting to his Pokémon after a few moments. Bubbles was down.

Gattsu sighed, returning the injured Pokémon to it's Pokéball and glaring at the Rocket member. "You're going to pay..." he said with anger, "for your crimes against Pokémon and humanity." He had a very intimidating sound to his voice that actually struck a small amount of fear into the Rocket member.  
Gattsu approached and tossed out his own Sandshrew. "I'm counting on you," he said. "His Sandshrew went into that hole so aim a swift attack into it."

Sandshrew nodded and blasted the same star-shaped beams toward the hole that the foe's Sandshrew went into. The beams seemed to gravitate right into the hole and after that, no one was sure exactly what happened. That was, until a cry of pain was heard coming from within the hole.

The Rocket member made his way toward the hole when the mountain began to shake again. Another magnitude attack? No, this felt different. Natural. Gattsu realized that there was a very good possibilty this spot of the mountain would collapse. He returned Sandshrew to his Pokéball and watched the Rocket member as boulders, rocks, and stalactites began to fall as the ground continued to shake.

Gattsu charged the Rocket member, jumping and pushing his knee into the evil man's chest. "You'll pay for how you treat Pokémon!" Gattsu called out as the two began falling to the ground. Gattsu was much smaller than this man, but his force along with the shaking mountain was enough to send him to the ground. Gattsu was now on top of him and he punched him several times in the face as the other two members approached them. They may have been able to help if it wasn't for a large boulder landing on both of them. Gattsu jumped off of the Rocket group leader and reached into the hole that his Sandshrew had dug. The Sandshrew was on it's way up and Gattsu managed to grab it out of the hole before approaching the leader once more.

"I'm saving your Pokémon because you seem incapable of doing so yourself. But you deserve whatever fate you get here."

He was about to walk away when he remembered they all had occupied Pokéballs on their belts. He took those as well and he also managed to take a small bag the leader had tied to his waist. Afterward, he ran through the cave finally escaping the area that was collapsing. He was so tired and exhausted that he found a spot off the main path and pulled his sleeping bag out of his pack and layed it on the cold floor. He fell onto it and drifted into a much needed sleep.

Gattsu woke up after sleeping for several hours and felt sore all over. He was probably pelted by several rocks during the collapse. Now that he thought about it, he was lucky to have made it out alive. And with all of his Pokémon and Team Rocket's as well. He looked down at all of the Pokéballs he'd taken from them and frowned. They would be sad to be away from their trainers but they will be better off. Gattsu decided he'd take them to the police as soon as he could.

He stretched, painfully, and stood up, checking on his two Pokémon. They seemed to be resting still and he smiled, hoping Bubbles wasn't too bad off. He had luckily purchased a few potions just for this situation and healed up both Bubbles and Sandshrew before making his way toward what he assumed was the exit of the mountain.

Everything was smooth for the rest of his time in the mountain. Gattsu had completely forgot about the fact that he stole a bag from Team Rocket and his sole focus became on getting the Pokémon to the police.

Toward the very end of the mountain, Gattsu had approached a small staircase that he ascended. In front of him was a nerdy looking male standing beside what looked like two fossils. Pokémon fossils? Gattsu was actually kind of sad that he didn't have one but the man approached him and said "Hey, I see you checkin' out the fossils I found. Well, you can have one if you beat me in a Pokémon battle..."

Gattsu couldn't believe what he heard. If he managed to beat this guy in a battle he'd give him a fossil. Gattsu had no idea what it would be useful for but at least he could say he had the fossil of an ancient Pokémon. How many people could say that?

"Consider it done," Gattsu replied as he gripped Bubbles' Pokéball. The two tossed the devices out simultaneously and what emerged from his foes was what could only be described as a shapeless ball of sludge.

Gattsu didn't waste too much time focusing on the looks of his Pokémon. "Bubbles, I'm not going to make you bite that so hit him with water-gun!"

The Wartortle blasted a powerful stream of water from it's mouth and it collided directly with the enemy Pokémon but seemed to not have as much effect as Gattsu would've liked.

"Sludge attack," the enemy trainer said.

The ball of waste launched a nasty ball of sludge from it's mouth that collided with Bubbles. It seemed to have some effect as well, because Bubbles appeared to be sick afterward.

"Hang in there, hit him with bubble," Gattsu said.

The Wartortle did as his trainer commanded and the enemy Pokémon seemed to weaken a bit further, but with every passing second, Bubbles looked like he was going to faint.

"Finish it off with tackle," the foe commanded.

The sludge-shaped Pokémon began to approach Bubbles quickly before Gattsu commanded him to withdraw. The tackle had little effect.

"Okay, let's put an end to this now. Water-gun, full force and then you can rest!"

The weakened Wartortle did as he was told and blasted the most powerful water-gun he could at the enemy Pokémon, finally knocking it out. Bubbles fainted as well, unfortunately, leaving Gattsu to rely on the newest team member.

The two trainers returned their fainted Pokémon and tossed out their second Pokémon. The enemy sent out a ball-shaped Pokémon that actually resembled a large Pokéball with a face. Of course Gattsu's response was Sandshrew.

"Magnitude!" Gattsu called out. With that, Sandshrew disappeared underground.

"Voltorb, prepare yourself... You can withstand this," the trainer said to his Pokémon.

The ground began to shake causing all sorts of debris to fall. Most of it seemed to collide with the Voltorb. It never stood a chance. Sandshrew had one-hit K. the enemy's second Pokémon. It emerged from the hole it dug just as the third Pokémon had emerged from it's Pokéball. It looked like a purple-levitating boulder that emitted gas.

"Koffing, smog!"

The enemy Pokémon enveloped Sandshrew in a cloud of poisonous looking gas.

"Sandshrew, get out of there! Fury-attack!"

Gattsu's Pokémon tried to escape the toxic gas but it was tough. Finally he just burrowed underground to escape it.

"Ready a sludge attack as soon as you see him emerge, Koffing."

Koffing seemed to concentrate hard on the ground and finally the Sandshrew popped out violently but was immediately hit with a ball of sludge, causing his fury-attack to fail.

"Shake it off and hit him with swift," Gattsu commanded.

Sandshrew blasted the star-shaped beams toward Koffing, who tried to avoid them, but it did no good. They followed him everywhere and collided with him violently, but he managed to stay up.

"Smokescreen," the enemy trainer commanded.

Koffing blasted smoke out of various holes in it's body, filling up almost the entire mountain and blinding Sandshrew.

"Now tackle the Sandshrew,"

Gattsu couldn't see what was happening, but he could hear it. Violent thuds and the cries of his own Pokémon.

"Sandshrew, hang in there! You never seem to miss with swift so just hit him with that again!"

Again, vision was something Gattsu didn't have right now, but he could hear what was happening. It sounded like the beams collided with Koffing.

"Now just escape underground and use magnitude once more!"

Sandshrew must've done as commanded because the mountain's interior began to shake once more. The smoke took a while to clear but when it did, Koffing was on the ground fainted and Sandshrew was nowhere to be seen. Moments later, it emerged from the ground with a victorious cry.

"We won! Good work, Sandshrew! You earned yourself some rest, buddy!" Gattsu returned the Pokémon into it's capsule and smiled down at it before looking up to his enemy. "So, I won fair an square..."

"You did," he responded. "You may pick a fossil. The battle was very good."

Gattsu approached the two fossils and looked them over. One was dome-shaped and the other helix-shaped. Picking was so difficult but finally Gattsu went with the Dome-shaped fossil and thanked the trainer for his generosity. After that, he made his way to the exit of the cave.

Gattsu looked back at Mount Moon as he walked through the exit. So much happened in such a little time. It all seemed like a blur now but Gattsu was glad it was over. Now he had a fossil, a new Pokémon, and "oh yeah!" he said as he remembered he took a bag from that Team Rocket member. He pulled the bag out of his pocket and inside was some money and a stone. It wasn't any ordinary stone, however, it seemed to be emitting energy. It also had a crescent shape cut into it. "This must be the moon-stone that he mentioned..." Gattsu said to himself, turning the stone over in his hand. He was more excited about it than the money for sure. "Oh well. Guess I'd better get going to Celadon." And, with that, he was off once more.

* * *

Current known teams at the end of chapter 4:

Gattsu:  
Wartortle (Bubbles) Lv. 20  
Sandshrew Lv. 18

Sam:  
Bulbasaur Lv. greater than 9

Green:  
Charmeleon Lv. greater than 16

* * *

Days left until Sam is a trainer: 3

* * *

Badges:

Gattsu: 1

Green: ?

Sam: 0

* * *

There is a very good possibility that I will be uploading more to chapter 4. I am not happy with the length. Keep an eye out for it.


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